Timeless
by PierceTheVeils
Summary: If we succeed, we'll die heroes. If we fail, we'll die criminals. Only in one will time continue. AU, based on Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky.


Chapter One

"You won't escape this time!" Dusknoir growled, snatching Grovyle up by the neck. "I'm going to take you to , and you're going to-"

"Hey, Dusknoir," Grovyle coughed out, struggling to speak. He wasn't at all fazed by his aggressor's words, but the chokehold was going to get to him. "You know what I find interesting?"

Dusknoir stopped in his tracks, staring at the weasel in front of him. "What is it?"

Grovyle coughed, and he felt the pressure loosen just a little bit. Time for some payback. "You're only doing half your job. This isn't the first time you've slacked off, either. It makes me wonder: why does Primal Dialga put up with someone so lazy? I know if I was him-"

"What?" Dusknoir exclaimed, squeezing the insolent Pokemon until he couldn't breath. Grovyle's lungs screamed for air, even the thin, mountain kind. "How dare you- what are you talking about?"

"Um... Master," a sableye stepped forward, trying to intervene. Probably a sableye, anyway.

"Hush!" The ghost type snapped, then seemed to realize his mistake. He moved his grip from the neck to the limbs. Grovyle was visibly relieved, then he remembered: Primal Dialga wanted to talk to him before sentencing him to death, just to see how much he'd accomplished.

Well, that wouldn't do. Good thing the pokemon wasn't staying here, then. He decided to push Dusknoir a little more.

"And I thought I was thick. You sure that's the only thing you're forgetting?" Grovyle probably shouldn't be pushing it, but who cared? Because he hadn't been in this position a million times before. Besides, it wasn't going to matter in a minute or two.

Well, minute or two in relative terms. Minutes didn't exist, so that made it difficult for them to pass. Even after generations of paralysis, pokemon never let go of their old expressions.

"Shut up, convict. Distracting me isn't going to get you out of here. In case you haven't noticed, you are surrounded." His voice was so matter-of-fact, it almost sounded like Dusknoir didn't hate him. Grovyle should really fix that.

"Okay then, how else should I get out of here? Cause a riot in a populated area? Activate a trap somewhere along the way? Or, and this is my personal favorite..."

Right as he was speaking, a loud crack sounded, causing small rocks to rain from above. He flinched, gazing upward.

Openings continued to form in the overhang, causing the Sableye to panic. In the confusion, Dusknoir lost his hold on Grovyle, who made sure he was standing right under the falling weight. His heart raced as the sound got louder.

Hopefully, she'd been right, and the rocks wouldn't suspend themselves in midair. There was a whole theory going along with it, but Grovyle had only listened to the final answer: yes, the overhang would collapse right on top of where he stood. The rest wouldn't matter.

As if on cue, the overhang came crashing down from a ways above. Time for him to act.

Just before it could make impact, Grovyle used Dig. He listened, safe underground, as the falling rock hit the narrow mountain path, tumbling off the cliff only a (relative) second later. From what he could hear, no one had been crushed.

Not that he was worried. Dusknoir would've just floated through the carnage, and the Sableye had always been good at fleeing danger.

"Blast" Dusknoir continued to swear under his breath, not bothering to look for Grovyle. Why would he? He'd told Dusknoir he'd die before he was caught. And as far as he could tell, Grovyle died under the wreckage. Of falling down the mountain. Whatever it would've been.

Dusknoir didn't know all his moves, and Grovyle had been careful to ensure he never found out about this one. So for now at least, he was safe.

Groyvle waited for what must have been hours, until he could be sure Dusknoir had floated away. Unfortunately, he couldn't be completely sure until-

_Stomp stomp Stomp._ "Grovyle? You down there?"

His partner came out of hiding, and used the agreed signal. Hoping she wasn't right above him, he tunneled out and ended the move facing in the opposite direction.

Erica watched him come up, unaffected. She was still holding the shovel in her hand, as well as a sharp stake used to destroy the overhang. Mt. Horn was now just a mountain. Here's to reshaping landscape!

"Did you have to tell him about me?" she commented, grabbing his arm and looking him over. At least she wasn't as rough as Dusknoir, even if it still opened some of his scratches. Besides, her gloves were itchy.

"Why not? He's met you. They're hunting both of us anyway, so what's the big deal?"

"We're already threats when they think we're alone!" Erica fumed. "If they were to find out we'd joined forces, they could devote one effort to both of us, and not be split in half."

Grovyle snorted. "Pokemon don't send out forces to find dead criminals. I don't know how humans do things, but I can't imagine it'd be different."

Erica rolled her eyes. "Fine. They can focus all their efforts on searching for me, now that you aren't around."

"Wow, that sucks. You should come be dead with me." Grovyle smiled, then turned the topic to something more important. "So... we're sure there was a Time Gear in Treeshroud Forest?"

His partner nodded, pursing her dark lips. "I know what I saw. I wouldn't have seen it if there wasn't."

"Great. And what was the place called in the past? Did you find out?"

"Same thing."

"Treeshroud Forest... wow, I had no idea there were trees in a forest. What a creative name." He replied sarcastically. "So that's five. Passage of Time, then?"

Erica paused, trying to think. "Let's see... according to legend, there were three Time Gears in lakes, guarded by Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie. Can't say I'm looking forward to fighting them for the Time Gears, but that's probably going to be what happens."

"Are you sure we can take them on?" Grovyle didn't like the idea of going head to head with anyone, especially innocents. Then there was Uxie, who supposedly had the ability to remove memories. Just what they needed.

She went on as though he hadn't spoken. "Then there's one in Treeshroud Forest, as we recently found out. The last one is in Boulder Quarry, hidden by Ditto. Not sure if he'll fight us or not, because he wasn't in my vision, and four Pokemon had found him out."

"So, how should we do this when we get to the past?" Grovyle said, pulling out an ancient map. "All the Time Gears are located on the mainland, right?"

"Five are. There are seven in total (two are on the islands), but we only need five for Temporal Tower," Erica explained. "Besides, I thought you didn't want to visit Frozen Wasteland."

The pokemon snorted. "I don't. But if we have to go there for our a Time Gear, I can do what it takes. What do you say?"

Erica weighed her options, then shook her head. "It'd attract too much attention to go: the Porygon would see us. Besides, I can't fight in dungeons and you'd be disadvantaged, with type and everything. We'd never get to the Time Gear even in the past. Though there is a Passage of Time there, away from Dialga..."

"We're not going," Grovyle insisted, then paused. "Not unless it's our only option. How would Celebi know to reach us there?"

"Okay," his human friend nodded, flicking back red hair. Which was actually closer to orange, but whatever. She called it red.

Grovyle tried to think. "So, what order do we collect the Time Gears in?"

Erica took the map from Grovyle, resting her head next to his body. "Hmm... let me think... what's the fastest and least noticable way to do this?"

Grovyle left his partner to the thinking, every now and then pitching in an idea. Did it matter if they went after the guarded Time Gears first? Was there any chance they could remain anonymous throughout? He never knew how to predict the answers, but Erica always seemed to have an idea. That's why she was the strategist.

Besides, she'd actually _seen_ the past. The Dimensional Scream had allowed her to catch glimpses of each Time Gear when touching their former place. If it hadn't been for her, no one would have ever tried what they were doing. Nobody supported a lost cause, after all. They'd had to plant hope in others to get people to tolerate their mission. It was the most they could do without being killed by Primal Dialga.

How did people used to live, way back in the past? Was it a paradise, where everyone was kind? Or were they're still bad pokemon, simply not as many? Had Temporal Tower's collapse been caused by natural means or deliberate?

Eventually, they managed to settle on a course of action: together, they'd take the unguarded Time Gears first. He would continue to hunt down the last three, and Erica would find their way to the Hidden Land, assuming the legends were true and Temporal Tower had indeed been hidden from sight. If not, they'd travel together with Erica as a secret, and collect the the last three together.

"Heye, do you think we should leave the scene of your death?" Erica asked him. "Pokemon might come back for your body."

Grovyle thought about it. Word would likely get out. He guessed it was possible, though he didn't know who'd care enough. "I guess. Where next?"

"Celebi. Dusk Forest isn't far from here, and she should have the Passage of Time ready by now."

"What if she changed her mind about helping us?"

Erica shrugged. "Force her, I guess. We can't waste energy persuading her again; Primal Dialga will be able to see us. He'll find out we've met up if he hasn't already. Besides, the Passage of Time won't escape attention. I'd rather be in the past when the troops show up."

Grovyle sighed. "Stealing, destroying land, even faking my own death. Never thought a hero would do any of those things."

Erica smiled. "If we succeed we'll die heroes. If we fail, we'll die criminals. That's the way legends are told."

"Partners in crime. I like that," Grovyle laughed, heaving himself up. "We better get moving. Before somewhere realizes we were the ones who redecorated."

* * *

><p><strong>ANs: Hello, Pokemon fandom! I've never written a Pokemon story before. The only Pokemon I know are the ones in Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. If I get something wrong about Pokemon, feel free to tell me in a review. **

**So this idea was in my head for awhile, to do a retelling of the story. Will likely go AU later on, and am already taking a couple creative liberties. Grovyle will retain his personality (for the most part), but I had to come up with one for the player (Erica isn't my real name, and that's not my personality at all. I'm not smart.)**

**Anyway, I'll be doing a few chapters before we reach the game's starting point, since I wanted to establish Grovyle and Erica's relationship/their relationship with Celebi first. But before that happens, I need to know: what sort of Pokemon should Erica be? I thought it'd be best to let you guys decide. So pick a starter pokemon, tell me why that's her, and what kind of person I'd have to be to get them on the test. I'll be replaying as I go so I can get things like moves, dialogue, and the sequence of events correct. I also need to pick the partner.**

**So feel free to leave your ideas in the review, as well as anything I could imporove on/suggestions on what to change in the story. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you on the far side!**


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